probably the last time i'm using my loaf tins before packing them away into storage. we're getting ready to move pretty soon and i think it will be an exciting journey. but before that, some good ol' pound cake to start the day with. did you know that the name for pound cake originally meant a cake made using a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour? i have no idea how much it would make but 1 pound of sugar (450g) is just crazy. this is probably why i like japanese recipes so much. their recipes are much lighter without sacrificing the taste and texture.

this recipe uses not much butter and sugar in comparison but uses quite a bit of ground almonds. the addition of kuromame (black beans) which i got in a tiny can from isetan also gave it a nice texture. taste wise was quite good. the cake was tender, crumbly and not too sweet though i think it could use more matcha. 2 tsps for a cake? definitely not enough.

recipe from here. personally i really like this website. did i mention the japanese hotcakes i made using this website's recipe were really awesome? tasted like morinaga's mix totally.

liege waffles are a type of belgian waffle, yeast-risen with pearl sugar added to give it a distinctive crunch. pearl sugar, unlike normal sugar, are larger, coarser and do not melt on high heat therefore they retain their shape after baking. in the past when i didn't have much baking experience, i've always thought there's only one type of waffle and thats the liquidy kind you normally make in a waffle maker and eaten with syrup or ice cream. so when i came across this type of cutesy belgian waffle at starbucks, i tried to replicate it by making it in my waffle maker and was dismayed that it could not "retain" its shape! it was only much later that i realized that this sort of waffle are yeast-risen and are made from a round dough. very silly of me.

i therefore went out to buy a stove-top waffle maker and with the swedish pearl sugar i got from the baking supplies store, i made these. there were a plethora of recipes out there, very happy to come across this one because it was really very good. the waffles were slightly more work since you need to knead it like you would a bread dough and proof it but the texture was great - crisp on the outside, soft and crunchy on the inside and it smells amazing of vanilla and butter. definitely making these again! my only gripe was that dividing the dough into 6 equal portions were still rather large in my opinion so i would probably do 8 portions next time.

on an unrelated note, just a friendly reminder to remind you guys to save recipes onto your OWN pc/tablet/email whenever you come across any that you'd like to try. don't just bookmark the site or blog thinking that you'll just refer to the recipe from there later on. i've come across blogs that are put private without any warning, leaving readers to beg to be invited back in because "my family's favorites are in there and i can't access your blog now. send me an invitation, pretty please?" sort of thing. don't expect blogs or websites to be up there forever because anything that can happen, will. murphy's law. you know it too, right?

rainbow desserts are literally everywhere. you would think maybe they'll stop at a layered cake or something but i've now seen concoctions of every kind, from slushies to rainbow heart in a crepe cake to jello shots and meringues. all in psychedelic rainbow colors. i gotta say they look very fancy and pretty but is it weird i only like them in pastel shades? how could anyone even stomach that much red or blue coloring is beyond me. i saw this particular style of rainbow cheesecake circulating its rounds on instagram and thought "hey, that is nice, i could make it!" so i found a recipe for a plain japanese rare cheesecake and turned it into rainbow one.

this is really fun to make! i've seen a few styles of rainbow cheesecakes like swirled or layered but i find this bullseye effect to be the prettiest. tastewise its very delicious too. for the uninitiated, rare is like non-baked or chilled in japanese so this is basically a chilled cheesecake. it uses yogurt so its very light on the palate. i also like the fact that the crust uses a combination of marie and digestive biscuits so it tasted significantly better compared to crusts that only use 1 type of biscuit. i heard speculoos are really nice as well, so i'm going to try experimenting with lotus biscuits next time.

did i also mention i LOVE japanese product websites like meiji, morinaga and nestle? they have really nice recipes and this one is taken from japan's philedelphia cream cheese website called happy-philly. fell in love with their recipes on first glance, they're all so beautiful! you can find the recipe for this rare cheesecake here. if you're making a rainbow version, just separate the batter into 6 or 7 equal portions, color and pour them directly into the center of the crust after each color. i should have done 1 more color after the yellow though.